Minutes after his team had trounced rival Miami last November, Florida State Football coach Jimbo Fisher got a pleasant surprise. His 9-year-old son Ethan ran up to his dad on the field and leapt into his arms.

Their embrace, captured by ABCABCA0.21% cameras, struck most viewers as a heartwarming moment—especially given Ethan's widely reported struggle with Fanconi anemia, a rare and serious genetic disease. But a different reaction emerged from one camp: Nike Inc.NKE0.18%

In an email sent hours after the Nov. 2 game, Mark Dupes, who as Nike's assistant director for football sports marketing helps oversee the company's $4.2 million licensing and apparel deal with the school, congratulated Florida State administrators on the win. "Hey guys great win and game! Appreciate everything you all do for us! Keep it rolling."

Then Dupes turned to another matter, the sweatshirt Ethan wore during that on-field embrace. "Hey got a text from the USA Director of Sports Marketing last night telling me of how good things look w FSU and our players and sideline staff, exposure for the Brand was exceptional. Then 5 min later I rec a new message…Said ABC cameras were on Jimbo and his Son at end of the game…His son was Wearing Under Armour FSU sweatshirt! Ouch. Can we please ask Jimbo to eliminate that from the son's wardrobe in the future! Let me know if I can help w anything. Thx guys. MD"

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Asked about the email Thursday, Monk Bonasorte, FSU senior associate athletics director, said he remembered receiving it but hadn't acted on it. "What am I going to do, go to coach and say, 'Hey can you take that shirt off him?'" Bonasorte said. "I'm not going to call Jimbo Fisher and tell him what his son can wear."

Bonasorte said he didn't think the email should be taken too seriously. "I think Mark was just trying to say, 'Hey, can the coach's son wear something else?'" he said. "It was more just a joke to us. It wasn't Nike being the big bad wolf telling a kid what to wear."

In a statement, Nike said its "relationship is with the Florida State Department of Athletics and does not extend to their family members." Jimbo Fisher declined to comment. Dupes did not return calls seeking comment.

The November email about Ethan Fisher's sweatshirt is one of several hundred athletic department emails from last fall the Journal acquired through the Freedom of Information Act. Dozens of the emails, which cover a two-week period, concern its relationship with Nike, which will pay the school $1.4 million in cash and $2.8 million in apparel this year. In the 2012/2013 school year, FSU had revenue from its athletic teams of $89.1 million, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

In an email on November 12, FSU trademark licensing director Sherri Dye asked Bonasorte what to do about requests from two Nike rivals—Under Armour and Adidas—to produce Florida State T-shirts bearing the No. 5 worn by Florida State's star quarterback, Jameis Winston. "We do not have anything in our contract that prevents us from approving these licensees from making tshirts although I know Nike won't like it," Dye wrote. She noted that another company, which she didn't name, had produced a "nice looking" #5 shirt and sold nearly 10,000 of them in two weeks. "Do you have any issues with us approving?" she asked. Dye didn't return a call seeking comment.

Nike's prominent presence in the internal communications at Florida State isn't a surprise. Athletic apparel companies have been known to dictate everything from the design of a team's uniform to whether players are allowed to wear tape over their cleats.

The apparel companies are also famously vigilant about how their logos and marks appear on television, where a few seconds of exposure can be invaluable. Total retail sales of collegiate licensed products were estimated at $4.6 billion for 2013, according to estimates from License! Global Magazine.

Last year, for instance, Nike asked several top college football programs, including Alabama, to return the apparel it had sent because it did not believe the logos were prominent enough on television. The clothing was then sent back to the teams with an extra logo.

President Obama walked into the bank to cash a check. As he approached the cashier he said, "Good morning Ma'am, could you please cash this check for me?"

Cashier: "It would be my pleasure sir. Would you please show me your ID?"

Obama: "Truthfully, I did not bring my ID with me as I didn't think there was any need to. I am Barack Hussein Obama, the President of the United States of AMERICA!!!!"

Cashier: "Yes sir, I know who you are, but with all the regulations and monitoring of the banks because of impostors and forgers and requirements of the Dodd-Franklegislation, etc., I must insist on seeing your ID.

Obama: "Just ask anyone here at the bank who I am and they will tell you. Everybody knows who I am."

Cashier: "I am sorry Mr. President but these are the bank rules and I must follow them."

Obama: "I order you to cash this check!"

Cashier: "Look Mr. President, here is an example of what we can do. One day, Tiger Woods came into the bank without ID. To prove he was Tiger Woods he pulled out his putter and made a beautiful shot across nthe bank into a cup. With that shot we knew him to be Tiger Woods and cashed his check.

Another time, Andre Agassi came in without ID. He pulled out his tennis racquet and made a fabulous shot whereas the tennis ball landed in my cup. With that shot we cashed his check.

So, Mr. President, what can you do to prove that it is you, and only you, as the President of the United States?"

Obama stands there thinking, and thinking, and finally says, "Honestly, I can't think of a single thing I am good at. I don't have a clue what to do."

President Obama walked into the bank to cash a check. As he approached the cashier he said, "Good morning Ma'am, could you please cash this check for me?"

Cashier: "It would be my pleasure sir. Would you please show me your ID?"

Obama: "Truthfully, I did not bring my ID with me as I didn't think there was any need to. I am Barack Hussein Obama, the President of the United States of AMERICA!!!!"

Cashier: "Yes sir, I know who you are, but with all the regulations and monitoring of the banks because of impostors and forgers and requirements of the Dodd-Franklegislation, etc., I must insist on seeing your ID.

Obama: "Just ask anyone here at the bank who I am and they will tell you. Everybody knows who I am."

Cashier: "I am sorry Mr. President but these are the bank rules and I must follow them."

Obama: "I order you to cash this check!"

Cashier: "Look Mr. President, here is an example of what we can do. One day, Tiger Woods came into the bank without ID. To prove he was Tiger Woods he pulled out his putter and made a beautiful shot across nthe bank into a cup. With that shot we knew him to be Tiger Woods and cashed his check.

Another time, Andre Agassi came in without ID. He pulled out his tennis racquet and made a fabulous shot whereas the tennis ball landed in my cup. With that shot we cashed his check.

So, Mr. President, what can you do to prove that it is you, and only you, as the President of the United States?"

Obama stands there thinking, and thinking, and finally says, "Honestly, I can't think of a single thing I am good at. I don't have a clue what to do."

What I would like to see is an athlete sue Nike and his/her school wherein he/she alleges that an injury was sustained because they were forced to use a key piece of equipment that didn't afford them the same comfort, performance or protection as a piece manufactured by someone else. I can definitely see mildly autistic athletes- whose numbers are quite large at the elite level (and whose disability often includes heightened and/or exaggerated tactile sensation) having performance issues when forced to use different equipment simply because the athletic department prostituted themselves to slimebags like Nike, Rebook, et. al..

Wait...the colleges and universities with football programs do not have enough money to pay for their own uniforms? They have to kowtow to apparel companies for accepting logo-embellished uniforms? And no one associated with the teams is allowed to wear any other manufacturers' apparel? I guess the word "branding" is appropriate.

I can understand if you're paying the team, of course you want the team wearing your stuff. That's only fair. But if the contract doesn't include family members, the dog, whatever, then be grateful at least it was an FSU sweatshirt.

Some companies, like Nike and Monster Cable, are a real PITA when it comes to their name and logo. Unless it's in the contract I'd have the kid keep living his life as normal, and if that means an Under Armour shirt, so be it.

@Keith Pagan In the state of Florida we have the "Sunshine law". Any and all State correspondence/business is open to the public upon request. I was a faculty member at FSU, I regularly had to deal with Sunshine Law information requests concerning the Office of Research. Its a pain but every state should have it. There are provisions that discourage harassment by disgruntled freaks.

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